Let’s Go Deeper: Introducing Sensible Spirituality at Healthy Jew

Plus: fresh design and branding for everything.

Sunset over Mount Meron, seen while hiking in Galilee several weeks ago. Some of Judaism’s deepest teachings were born in these hills and valleys.

Dear Healthy Jew,

They tell me that growing a business or organization is all about pivoting. Keep on trying new directions until something sticks, and always stay open to changing course.

As I shared with you recently, that’s been my story here at Healthy Jew: many great ideas that didn’t work (yet), and now I’m focusing on three projects that are going awesome: this newsletter, my new book, and foraging walks in Israel’s natural world.

Behind the Scenes at Healthy Jew

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Part of this pivot is new design and branding.

Here’s the scoop:

Healthy living and the Land of Israel are at the heart of our mission at Healthy Jew. But that’s not everything, and not the ultimate purpose of life. Let’s not get so locked in on the “Healthy” - personal and national - that we forget the “Jew.”

As Healthy Jews, we need a relationship with God, Torah, and Jewish ritual that work for us. We need a Judaism that makes sense and is attuned with our sense-based experience of life.

To give this aspect of Healthy Jew the space it deserves, we now have a section on the website called Sensible Spirituality for posts about the following two subjects:

• Choosing Wellness: the spiritual value of health - and the messages of illness and death.

• Balanced Religion: fresh perspectives on Judaism and spirituality that make your life better.

Next week I hope to share with you more about the balance between caring for our personal health and the larger spiritual purpose of life.

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Once I was at it…

I reorganized our other two sections with new titles and topics:

1. Wellness with Wisdom shows you how to:

• Eat Well: what, when, and how much to eat and drink. Life coming in.

• Move Well: walking, hiking, running, and stretching. Life going out.

• Be Well: embrace stress and other challenges. Let go, with purpose.

• Also check out our special China Study Controversy series for a deep dive into the Whole Food Plant Based diet and holistic nutrition.

2. Land of Life invites you to:

• Forage in Israel: eat the plants whose ancestors were eaten by your ancestors - right here in this field or ancient site.

• Walk in Israel: stories, insights, pictures, and videos that you won’t find anywhere else.

• Care for Israel: value and cherish the healthy body of the Jewish people.

Now that Healthy Jew’s mandate openly includes many Torah topics, I figured it’s time to start calling myself rabbi. Hey, all rabbi means nowadays is someone who teaches Torah, and that’s much of what I’m doing here at Healthy Jew and in my day job as a mashgiach ruchani (spiritual guide) in Yeshivat Lev HaTorah. I hope you don’t think I’m being pretentious.

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You might also have noticed:

1. healthjew.org, the landing page that introduces everything Healthy Jew, has a new design that’s about a million times more engaging and interesting than that old boxy clump of pictures and links. Check it out here:

2. The Healthy Jew is no longer, even for this newsletter. Now it’s all Healthy Jew. Smoother feel, more compact and modern.

3. We’ve got new headers and footers on every email that remind you every week about all the ways Healthy Jew can help you become a healthier Jew (see above and below this email).

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I couldn’t do this alone.

Thankfully, I had two remarkably talented, reliable, and great-to-work-with people on the team:

• Sammy Morhaim of Know U Marketing designed and built the new website with extraordinary expertise and dedication. I highly recommend him for all your graphics and social media projects.

• Kristi Keller 🇨🇦
  of Unstack Substack (and author of the great newsletter
  Wildhood Wanted
  ), patiently organized the back end of the Substack website so you can easily sift though hundreds of past posts. Check out her work if you’re looking for any help on Substack.

Thank you!

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May we continue together finding Wellness with Wisdom, discovering the Land of Life, and living with Sensible Spirituality.

If you know anyone who’d like to join our journey, click here to let them know where to find us:

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Thank you for reading Healthy Jew.

Here are 2 great paths to continue the journey:

Also check out this intro and index to explore hundreds of posts about our 3 Healthy Jew topics: Wellness with Wisdom, Land of Life (Israel), and Sensible Spirituality.

Welcome to Healthy Jew

Finally, always feel free to reach out here with any comments, questions, or complaints:

I look forward to hearing from you!

Be well,

Rabbi Shmuel Chaim Naiman

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Please note: All content published on Healthy Jew is for informational and educational purposes only. Talk to a qualified professional before taking any action or substance that you read about here.